


A Dream of Memories

by unconventional_therapy



Category: Mr. Robot (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, M/M, Parallel Universes, Post-Season/Series 04
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2019-12-30
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:47:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22028071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unconventional_therapy/pseuds/unconventional_therapy
Summary: Comet AU. Elliot saved the world. However, unbeknownst to him, whiterose's machine was activated. Elliot now has the ability to travel to parallel universe 'f' in his dreams.
Relationships: Elliot Alderson/Tyrell Wellick, implied Darlene Alderson/Dominique DiPierro
Comments: 8
Kudos: 28





	A Dream of Memories

“Hello, Elliot.”

Darlene’s gentle voice was the first thing he heard upon waking from his year long mental suppression. Memories of the previous months filled his mind: starting fsociety, initiating 5/9, going to prison, robbing the Deus group, and all of the carnage and death that he left in his wake. He was overwhelmed and frankly disoriented from the onslaught of information and emotions he felt come over himself. A familiar, unwelcome sensation of surrealness began clouding his mind.

Darlene squeezed his hand. _This is real. I am real._

“You know you scared me for a minute there, asshole.” Darlene’s eyes glistened with unshed tears and her mouth twisted into a small smile.

“So, how does it feel to be the savior of the world?” She teased.

Right. They won. He had actually managed to stop whiterose’s machine.

“I mean I could do without the concussion, but good, I guess.” He cracked a tearful grin back at Darlene before his expression sobered, giving her hand a gentle squeeze, “I’m just happy to be back.”

Darlene’s face softened at Elliot’s admission and the tears she was blinking back rolled openly down her cheeks.

“I’ve missed you.”

—

It had been a few weeks since Elliot had officially ‘woken up’ and he still wasn’t fully adjusted. Biweekly therapy sessions with Krista helped along with Darlene’s determined resolution to help him. He was secretly grateful for her insistence though. It was nice to know someone cared. 

He looked up from his morning coffee. Darlene had stayed over last night. She’d been doing that a lot recently, it was sort of an unspoken thing between them. Most of it was for Elliot’s benefit, but he knew Darlene hated being alone just as much as he did. She was currently curled up on his sofa, busy on her phone with the news flipped on as background noise.

“...and the search for missing CEO Tyrell Wellick continues. New information has recently been made public about the night of his disappearance. Security footage from an upper New York gas station shows what appears to be Wellick and another man entering and exiting Salamano’s shop.“

 _Shit._

Grainy footage appeared onscreen showing him and Tyrell walking into the gas station and arguing with the cashier. Tyrell purchased a few items at the counter before they both headed out. Luckily, Elliot’s face was almost completely blocked from the camera due to his hoodie.

“Susan Wilkies, the co-owner of Salamano’s and cashier the night of Wellick’s disappearance, has been taken into custody for questioning-“

He didn’t need this right now. He got up to shut the TV off.

“Dude, what the hell. I was watching that! Just because _you_ hate any and all forms of commercial entertainment doesn’t mean the rest of the world has to be subject to your boring ways.”

Elliot gave her a pointed look that clearly said _no you weren’t_ and ignored her, going back to the table to sip at his coffee. Guilt over that night already beginning to bubble in his chest.

“Wait.. hey, are you okay?” 

Darlene looked concerned now. Ever since he got back she’d made it a point that they needed to be open and honest with each other. That meant no silent treatment.

Elliot shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

“They were talking about _him_ again.”

A beat passed before realization dawned across her face.

“...you mean Tyrell? Listen, Elliot, I’m not going to pretend I understand whatever weird relationship you guys had going on, but you can’t keep bottling it up. Is it because it was a gay thing? Because _trust me_ -“

“I already told you I left him in the woods to die, Darlene! What more do you want me to say? He’s dead because of me!” Elliot let out a mirthless laugh, “even whiterose’s shitty game knows I should’ve stayed with him.”

Now Darlene looked guilty, “Hey,” she got up to sit across from Elliot, taking his hand into hers and giving it a squeeze, “you know that wasn’t the real you, right? That was one of your alters. Besides, there was nothing you could do anyway. He took a fatal shot to the stomach in the middle of nowhere. What exactly were you planning to do?”

Elliot looked down at their hands, “I don’t know,” he admitted, “Just sit with him I guess. No one wants to die alone.”

Darlenes eyes were sympathetic, “Maybe he didn’t want you to see him like that? Dom.. I know she would pull the same shit on me. The whole martyr act.” Her eyebrows furrowed, “And what do you mean whiterose’s game told you to stay with Tyrell?”

Elliot shook his head, “I don’t know, it was probably just a coincidence,” his eyes flickered over to his computer, “The key to stopping whiterose’s machine was hidden in this chose your own adventure game. I played it twice. The first time I won by leaving my dying ‘friend’ behind. The second time I lost and stopped the machine by staying with the ‘friend’.”

Elliot took back his hand and sighed, “I know all of it was a lie- the whole promise of a parallel universe. Whiterose was insane and delusional. But do you ever wonder if maybe she was onto something? What if there are other universes out there, realities where we had happier lives?”

Darlene rolled her eyes, “She was a rich and crazy cultist that had access to a nuclear power plant. Trust me, the only reality she planned on creating involved nothing but blowing up New Jersey.”

Elliot got up from the table, making his way toward his window. He considered mentioning his dreams, or rather the continuous dream, that he’d been having since the night of the Washington Township explosion. A hyper-realistic reality of a more simplistic life. The same reality he was trapped in for the year. Krista had reassured him that this was normal given his dissociative identity disorder, but this dream felt different than before. It was less like the loop he remembered and more like an actual life. 

“Right. Yeah,” Elliot watched the people bustle along the sidewalk. Couples holding hands, people mindlessly texting, dog walkers, he wondered if they were all happy. “Its just nice to think about a different world. Guess that’s how she got so many people to believe in her project.”

“Well that and the 8 trillion dollars she had backing her,” Darlene grinned rising from her chair, “which, if you don’t remember, _we_ took.”

Darlene shrugged on her coat with a mischievous look, hand already on the doorknob, “Soo wanna get something to eat? Heard they just opened up a donut shop on the corner.”

—

12 hours, 8 doughnuts, a therapy session, an unsuccessful clothes shopping trip, and some questionable leftover Chinese takeout later Elliot collapsed into bed.

Acting normal knowing everything he’d been through in the past year felt wrong. Krista had advised him that if he wanted to move on, he needed to put a lot more effort into taking care of himself. That meant regular meals, showers, and yes, an adequate amount of sleep every night. So while going to bed at 10 PM wasn’t ideal, he was willing to make some sacrifices in hopes that someday his life wouldn’t feel like an uphill battle.

Elliot stared blankly at his ceiling. He sighed, closed his eyes, and eventually dozed off.

—

He blinked opened his eyes. Right where he left off the night before-in his office at Allsafe.

_This isn’t real, though. This is just a dream._

Elliot had a brief rush of exhilaration at this realization. He could do whatever the fuck he wanted. No consequences. He could punch Ollie in the face, call up Angela and ask her to take him back, shit, he could-

“Um, Elliot?” A petite woman with a a bob cut popped her head into his office, “Mr. Wellick is here to see you.”

Actually, no. He couldn’t. Turns out social anxiety still existed in his fantasy.

“Uh, just a second.” Elliot straightened his shirt. He’d been napping at his desk. He was pretty sure if he looked in a mirror right now he’d see a large, red blotch on his forehead from where his head was resting on his arm. And he was far from prepared to have a chat with the man whose death weighed heavily on his mind.

“Tyrell? You can come in.”

The same dressed down man he’d met weeks ago stepped into his office. A friendly, quizzical smile stretched across his face and he reached out to shake Elliot’s hand, “Elliot. Good to see you, again.”

Elliot took his hand. _Shit. This is weird_ , “You too,” he looked past Tyrell’s shoulder and gestured at the couch, “Do you wanna sit down?”

Tyrell was still giving him an odd look. As though he was in on something Elliot wasn’t aware of, “...okay.”

Tyrell moved to the couch, with the stack of papers he was carrying placed in his lap, “So I know last time we talked about Allsafe’s role in my company’s security. And after discussing it with-“

“I’m sorry.” Elliot blurted out without second thought, “I mean not about partnering with fcorp. We’d be happy to work with you. Just like, in general, I’m sorry. For everything.”

Tyrell tilted his head, confusion etched across his brows, but a hint of sadness betrayed itself in his eyes, “I don’t understand. What are you sorry for?”

_Leaving you._

Elliot doesn’t answer, “Why did you ask me what was wrong with my life when we first met?”

Surprise. He wasn’t expecting that either, but he leaned forward, intrigued, “What do you mean? I was just making conversation.”

 _Why does it still feel like he’s hiding something? What could a fictional version of a dead man have to keep secret?_

Elliot sat down next to him, locking eyes, determined to get answers, “Okay, then consider this me making conversation: what’s wrong with _your_ life?”

Tyrell leaned back, he looked hesitant, considering the question, “I guess like you said yourself-nothing really. I suppose I would like to have a family someday. I remember you mentioning you were getting married the last time we met. Congratulations, by the way. That is one thing I’m missing.”

Elliot looked away. The wedding. A sharp pang of rejection tightened in his chest like a vice. Watching fantasy Angela leave him at the alter, learning that he’d been living a lie for more than a year, all of it still burned freshly in his mind. 

“Actually.. my fiancé and I broke off our engagement.” Elliot looked down and unconsciously fidgeted with his ring finger, “It was a mutual decision,” _lie_ , “we both realized we weren’t marrying who we thought we were.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Tyrell’s lips are cast in a hard line. 

_This is awkward. Thank god this isn’t real._ Fake or not this was the only way he was going to get a sense of closure on Tyrell’s death. If he made amends here, maybe he could rest a bit easier in the real world.

“Right,” Elliot scratched the back of his neck wanting to change the subject, “Uh, anyway, you said you reached a decision on our proposal?”

“We did. My associates and I agreed that based off of your models, investing our security in Allsafe would be beneficial. I trust you were being honest with me when you said you wanted to look out for the future of my company?”

“Absolutely,” Elliot voiced his sincerity, “like I said before, I’ll always be on your side.”

Tyrell gave him a small smile, his eyes filled with warm admiration, “Glad to hear it.”

“So, we can finalize the deal here if you’d like,” a hint of a color tinted Tyrell’s cheeks and he adjusted his glasses, shuffling through the papers on his lap, picking and choosing a select few documents. 

“We both have to sign these,” Tyrell reached for a pen and signed his name on each document before handing the stack over to Elliot, “keep a copy of each for yourself.”

Tyrell worried his bottom lip, nervous as he watched Elliot date and sign his own name.

“...and done,” Elliot passed the half the papers back to Tyrell. It looked like Tyrell wanted to say something but was holding back. 

Tyrell flickered his eyes at Elliot, “This is going to sound odd, but have you ever felt like you’ve had memories of another life?”

Elliot raised his eyebrows. _You have no idea._

Tyrell let out a laugh to himself, shaking his head in embarrassment, “Forget it.” He got up, waving off his previous question, “I think the stress is finally getting to me. I appreciate your time and your company’s investment in fcorp regardless. I think I should probably get going.” Tyrell headed for the door.

“No, it’s okay, wait-“ Elliot stopped him, grabbing his arm, “I get it. Trust me, I get it.” Elliot’s eyes were wide and serious.

Tyrell stared at where Elliot was holding his forearm and his gaze grew unfocused, eyebrows creasing. 

Elliot jerked his hand away. The scene felt eerily reminiscent of the night he watched his Tyrell walk away.

Elliot had no idea what to say, but he refused to let Tyrell walk off like before, “Actually, do you wanna get lunch?”

_Smooth._

Elliot stammered, attempting to clarify, “I was gonna head down to the cafeteria to grab something anyway. Maybe you could tell me about those memories?”

He winced.

Tyrell still looked far away, lost in thought, before his gaze settled on Elliot. A glint of sadness lingered behind his eyes.

”Yeah, I’d like that.”


End file.
